Portable clip-on reading lights are known. For example, a book light such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,042 has a base, an integral clamp from which a vertical lamp bearing arm is mounted to one end with the other end supported by the base. These devices typically comprise a body having means to clip on to a surface, such as a book cover, and include an arm that may be flexible or foldable for aligning a light for illuminating, for example, a page of a book.
Generally, such lights are popular but they do suffer from several drawbacks. Typically, illumination is provided by an incandescent bulb which itself has a limited life and such bulbs are often sensitive to shock during handling and are also difficult to replace. The sensitivity to shock promotes early bulb failure. In addition, power consumption is rather high which may result in reduced battery life and therefore frequent battery replacement. Often, the bulb is somewhat underpowered and therefore the amount of illumination may dim significantly over time leading to possible eye strain. Lastly, while folding and bending arms are useful, these do require additional space and any effort to reduce the size or bulkiness of the portable reading light promotes its portability and convenience for the user.